Combined face plate and receptacle



Dec. 9, 1941. R. H. BENTLEY 2,265,890

COMBINED FACE PLATE AND REGEPTACLE Filed NOV. 25, 1939 Tic1l.

Fl-$1.5 V

INVENTOR ROBERT H. BENTLEY BY HIS ATTORNEYS Patented Dec. 9, 1941 COMBINED FACE PLATE AND RECEPTACLE Robert H. Bentley, Hartford, Conn., assignor to The Arrow-Hart & Hegeman Electric Company, Hartford, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application November 25, 1939, Serial No. 306,165

2 Claims.

This invention relates to face plate and attachment plug receptacle combinations. More particularly it relates to an attachment plug receptacle of the type with which the face plate forms an integral part of the receptacle structure.

It is an object of my invention to provide a simplified construction of face plate and attachment plug receptacle in which there are used a minimum number of parts which can be manufactured and assembled economically. Other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent as it is described in connection with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing-- Fig. 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section view taken along line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan View of the invention with the face plate and receptacle body portion removed.

Referring to the drawing, the device comprises a rectangular face plate Ill of insulating material of Width and length usual in face plates for attachment plug receptacle. The face plate in the present invention has an insulating formation or body l2 extending from the rear thereof. In the duplex receptacle form of the invention, as illustrated, the body is pierced with pairs of apertures Ma, Nb, and I511, 151), passing through the face plate and body from front to rear and spaced so as to accommodate the prongs of an attachment plug cap (not shown). These passages are also designed to receive metallic contact fingers 20a, 20b, and 22a, 222), which extend up at right angles from terminal plate portions 20c, 20d, and 22c, 22d, of combined contact and terminal members. Connecting busbars Zia, 2lb, may join adjacent plates of the same polarity. These combined contact and terminal members may conveniently be stamped in one piece from sheet metal. These combined contact and terminal members are mounted upon a rectangular plate of sheet insulating material 24 adjacent opposite edges thereof. The contact and terminal members may be provided with binding screws 26 which may take into holes punched in the insulating plate 24 and may serve to secure the combined contact and terminal plates to the insulating plate 24, as well as serving as means for binding lead wires to the terminal plates. If it is desired to more securely mount the contact and terminal plates upon the insulating plate 24, this may be accomplished by using tubular rivets into Which the shanks oi the terminal screws 26 may be threaded. In the form shown,

lugs 23 extend from each end of each terminal portion, (see, for example, 22c, 20d) and are bent down through small holes provided in plate 24 and then turned over to hold the combined contact and terminal members on plate 24.

The insulating plate 24 is mounted upon a U-shaped supporting bridge 28 which may be provided with the usual plaster ears 28a, 28b. The bridge may be stamped from sheet metal. Rivets 30 are employed to secure the plate 24 upon the supporting bridge.

The face plate l0 and its associated rearwardly-extending body portion 12 is adapted to be secured to the supporting bridge 28--with the body portion I2 in the U-portion of the bridgeby means of a bolt 32 which passes centrally through the face plate and body l2, and passes through an aperture in the center of the insulating plate 24 and takes into a threaded opening 34 in the supporting member 28.

The body portion 12 may be made comparatively narrow so that the terminal screws 26 and also the edge portions of the insulating plate 24 adjacent said screws will lie outside the sides of the body I2. The body l2 may be of such length as to provide adequate strength and insulating properties to the device, while at the same time fitting within the U-portion of the supporting bridge 28. The supporting bridge is of such size as to bridge the opening in a conventional switch or outlet box, across which opening the bridge will be secured, with the plaster ears extending beyond, as usual.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that I have provided a simplified form of combined attachment plug receptacle and face plate which is made up from a minimum number of easily and inexpensively-manufactured parts. Many modifications within the scope of my invention will occur to those skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In combination, an electric face plate of insulating material having a rearwardly extending body with passages running therethrough from front to back to accommodate the prongs of an attachment plug cap, a bridge member adapted to be secured across the front opening of a Wall box, a fiat plate of sheet insulation mounted on said bridge member, a pair of unitary terminal and contact members mounted on said plate comprising terminal portions lying upon said plate and contact fingers extending perpendicular to said terminal portions, and means to detachably secure said face plate to said bridge member with said contact fingers said terminal portions containing binding screws and being connected by a longitudinally-extending bar portion, in combination with a combined face plate and insulating body having passages therethrough for reception of Said contact portions, said face plate and body being adapted to be secured to said bridge after connection of feed wires to said terminal portions, said terminals and bar portions being outside the margins of said body, and a single securing means to attach 10 said face plate and body to said bridge.

ROBERT H. BENTLEY. 

